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February 23, 2021 | :

There have been major strides and clear, sometimes violent, hostility toward Americas professed promise of equal opportunity for everyone. That reality makes it impossible to forecast how long the latest surge in race-equity initiatives will last, several scholars contend, adding that anything short of systemic change isnt really change at all.

Dr. Anthony James

It is not clear that the contemporary initiatives are going to be anything more than window dressing, Dr. Anthony Thompson, founding faculty director of New York University School of Laws Center on Race, Inequality and the Law, told Diverse via email. We often see an immediate response to social unrest related to race. But, all too often, those responses are followed with retrenchment dramatic reversals on race. The election of an openly racist president after two terms of Obama is a prime example.

Similarly, Dr. Sekou Franklin, president of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists, pointed out that although an anonymous donor did give the NAACP Legal Defense Fund $40 million to train 50 up-and-coming civil rights attorneys, it came just days after a mob of White supremacists and conspiracy theorists attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In his own city of Nashville, global pharmaceutical giant Thermo Fisher Scientific recently invited Franklin also an associate professor of political science and international relations at Middle Tennessee State University to educate an audience of that firms employees on the history of and current threats to voting rights.

I cant breathe, George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement: these are reasons why all of this activity is occurring, says Franklin. That resistance is joined at the hip with the ability of Black advocates in various other

arenas and of Black lawmakers to pinpoint many things right now, including the racial disproportionality of the coronavirus impact.

As scholars, including some who also are activists, assess todays efforts to achieve racial parity in areas including education, employment, income, criminal justice and policing, they also are weighing in on how to sustain this new momentum in racial justice and parity.

If there is no structural change taking place, its possible that, in a few years, all of this will go away, says Dr. Mark Naison, a historian whos taught for 50 years at Fordham University.

Dr. Mark Naison

As a young man, hed been a member of the moribund Congress of Racial Equality, founded in 1942 by an interracial group of students. Today, amid Black Lives Matter, Fordham has been raising money for initiatives we never had before, says Naison, who is advising some of the fledgling diversity efforts.

Fordham has a newly endowed chair for African and African American studies. A newly formed committee is investigating how to change the universitys Columbus Day observance to one that instead honors indigenous Americans; and whether to establish some sort of fund benefitting descendants of Native Americans who once lived on land that Fordham claimed for its 179-year-old campus.

Scholarship dollars are being raised for prospective Fordham students from the Bronx, where 48% of residents are Latinx and 35% are Black.

Because the scholarships are dedicated to students from a region, not a race, it doesnt potentially violate U.S. Supreme Court rulings banning racial quotas but narrowly allowing race to be considered in college admissions, Naison noted. Still, in late 2020, Students for Fair Admission, which has lost several lawsuits arguing that White and Asian students are unfairly disadvantaged by those allowances, was gearing up to again press its case. Its lawyers are hoping that the now conservative-leaning Supreme Court will rule in its favor.

All of this activity at Fordham has happened since last summer. Its just getting started, and students are pushing much of this, says Naison. If we bring in more Black, Latinx and Indigenous students and put more money toward hiring some of these many brilliant professors of color and into diversifying the faculty, that will help ensure that these changes are not going to go away.

A groundswell of sentiment about how much and how little, simultaneously, has changed regarding race owes directly to many students, for one, seeing George Floyds death as [a] personal attack against them, Naison added. And a lot of people [are responding to] White supremacy and how the depth of it was revealed by the Trump presidency. This insurrection has to be addressed holistically through education that actually conveys the history of White supremacy and how it has shaped the development of the United States and the functions of our institutions.

Every sphere academe, government, business, sports, religion, legal, et cetera must commit to changing the way they

Dr. Lori Martin

look and function, Dr. Lori Martin, interim director of Louisiana State Universitys African and African American Studies Program, told Diverse via email. They must be prepared to disrupt and dismantle the policies and practices that perpetuate anti-Black sentiments and demonstrate a commitment that is lifelong.

Martin, chair of LSUs College of the Humanities and Social Sciences diversity committee, noted a need for scrutiny of whats going on right now: The current initiatives are certainly more numerous and visible than previous initiatives. But many are symbolic and short-sighted and may result in only modest changes to the Black experience in America and in gains for non-Black groups (e.g. non-Black diverse populations like White women and other people of color). While violence against Black people led us to this moment, far too few individuals and organizations are willing to develop race-specific initiatives focused largely or exclusively on Black people.

Its essential to recognize that, even among Black people and other people of color, there are divergent views about what constitutes a racial problem and how to remedy it, says Dr. Anthony James, interim president of institutional diversity at Miami University of Ohio and director of its family science program.

A broad spectrum of entities is taking steps seemingly aimed at dismantling White privilege and leveling the proverbial playing field, says James, whose teaching and research focus on, among other topics, truth and reconciliation.

Theyre having conversations, he says. But are they really hearing the community? Thats a very different thing.

Is it How do we put some [Black executive] in place and move on? Or are we looking, deeply, at whole systems . And, to the extent that those systems are in our control, are we looking at ways to give people opportunities to be

successful? That is the only real way to make progress . Some see that approach as being too incrementalist. A lot of folks dont like that. But at large institutions, where many decisions depend on the culture, working incrementally will be the way to not lose momentum.

Many predominantly White institutions are trying to play catch up and be woke, says Dr. Nicole Gonzalez Van Cleve, a Brown University sociologist. But it took a lot for industries to listen and believe about the level of racial inequality. [Black Lives Matter activist and pro quarterback Colin] Kaepernick is still unemployed. And, yet, the NFL is doing campaigns for social justice that are more a PR initiative than substantive. I fear that that is where we are going. This should not just be smoke-and-mirrors. It cannot just be a band-aid.

Its not lost on Van Cleve, among others, that todays racial reckoning has ushered another round of Black firsts into high-profile, decision-swaying positions.

When we are still talking about firsts, the first to be CEO or vice president, it tells me that all the barriers that White people have put up to block access for Black people and people of color, broadly, never fully came down, says Van Cleve. Thats the real question: how to change, how to open up points of access.

This article originally appeared in the February 18, 2021 edition of Diverse. Read it here.

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Will the Current Focus on Black Lives Matter Lead To Lasting Change? - Higher Education - Diverse: Issues in Higher Education

A protestors holds up a sign during a Black Lives Matter march in London, Britain, June 28, 2020. (Toby Melville/Reuters)

At the height of the renewed Black Lives Matter movement last summer, Canada saw its prime minister and Toronto's former chief of police take a knee in the middle of protests. They saw premiers tweet promises to fight anti-Black racism. They saw businesses join other Canadians in posting black squares with statements of solidarity to Instagram feeds on #BlackoutTuesday.

Nine months later, during a month that commemorates Black history in this country, activists such as Rodney Diverlus of Black Lives Matter Canada who are still working behind the scenes want to know: Where are those changes?

"What has yet to be seen is the mass change and the mass transformation of our systems that we have asked for," Diverlus said.

Watch:Black Lives Matter activists in Canada say the time to act is now. Here's why:

Diverlus and other BLM activists say the time is now to dial up pressure on those politicians and businesses that made commitments to change the policies and institutions that maintain anti-Black racism in Canada.

Adora Nwofor, president of Black Lives MatterYYC in Calgary, says her organization and othersacross the country aren't waiting on politicians. Instead, they're investing in Black communities themselves.

"We are specifically working on mentorship programs, getting some funding, trying to promote some Black joy," said Nwofor.

Diverlus says it's important to remember anti-Black racism work and calling on leaders to act isn't just the responsibility of Black people. The work doesn't end once strategic plans are made, he said.

"This is a lifelong journey," he said. "We have to commit ourselves beyond reading one book about anti-Black racism. We actually have to commit ourselves for life."

On Feb. 27, CBC News brings you a half-hour special called Being Black in Canada. Hosted by Asha Tomlinson, it's a look at the challenges facing Black Canadians in this time of racial reckoning, with people continuing their journey for social justice. You can watch at 4:30 p.m. ET oncbcnews.ca,CBC News Network andCBC Gem, our streaming service.

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Black Lives Matter activists say now is the time to act on promises from 2020 - CBC.ca

Nesrine Malik is right that a culture war rages, featuring daily assaults on a cast of characters and organisations broadly associated with racial justice, migrant rights or attempts to reappraise Britains account of its colonial history (The culture war isnt harmless rhetoric, its having a chilling effect on equality, 22 February). But because she is on the right side of history, she apparently fails to see that the choice of words that the Black Lives Matter movement uses to frame its funding requirement, ie to improve black peoples lives in a racist society, actually leaves those millions of people who were educated in the belief that empire was good with nowhere to go: if it is a racist society and I am not on the right side of history, then I am a racist.

If we are to avoid our fellow citizens falling into the hands of rightwing extremists then, without detracting from the social justice imperative, we need to embrace a vocabulary and dialogue that is more nuanced and which gives people on the wrong side of history the opportunity to reflect on their cultural preconceptions and prejudices in a climate that is less febrile and accusatory.Christopher CoppockCardiff

Nesrine Maliks article reminds me of another occasion when the government launched a targeted attack on critics to obscure the impacts of its disastrous social policies. Back in the 1980s, the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (NACAB) collected information from its local bureaux about a wide range of issues and published the data in the form of short briefing papers. The cumulative effect of these papers in the area of social security showed how cuts in benefits were generating hugely increased poverty among most population groups.

Thatchers government argued that NACAB should not be engaging in politics, and threatened to withdraw NACABs core funding, which would have led to its closure. NACAB, supported by a wide-ranging protest, and with legal advice, resisted the threat, which was later ruled unlawful. Fortunately, Black Lives Matter UK does not rely on government funding, but civil society has to ensure that through it and other channels, the fight continues to resist the governments attempt to obscure its increasingly racist policies, actions and threats.Prof Gary Craig York

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How the right words can end the culture war - The Guardian

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Brussels, February 2021 (Source: Daily Journal)

The Ukrainian government concluded a series of agreements and held important discussions with European Union officials during Prime Minister Denys Shmyhals February 911 visit to Brussels, where he co-chaired the seventh meeting of the Ukraine-EU Association Council (UNIAN, February 13). Less progress was reached this time compared to the sixth meeting, around the same time last year, attended by Shmyhals predecessor, Oleksiy Honcharuk. This downgraded outcome stemmed partly from the fact that the coronavirus crisis had since overshadowed other developments and shifted priorities on both sides. More importantly, not much has changed in Kyivs attitude after the signing of the EU Association Agreement, including a Deep and Comprehensive Trade Area, in June 2014.

Brussels has done little to penalize Kyivs failures to meet its earlier commitments, though it continues to insist that Ukraine should accept European values and speed up rule-of-law and justice reforms in order to attain more from the EU. Kyiv, however, is seeking primarily economic benefits and political support in its confrontation with Russia, while largely ignoring those requirements from Brussels that are difficult to grasp, let alone implement, for an immature but practical ruling elite in a country suffering from decades of kleptocracy and weakened by the hybrid war waged by Moscow. As a result, neither Kyiv nor Brussels remain fully satisfied.

As on previous occasions, the EU encouraged Ukraines reform efforts and reiterated its support for Ukrainian sovereignty in the joint statement summing up the Association Council meeting. Additionally, the EU once again put the blame for the lack of progress in the implementation of the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements on Russia. Finally, the European side repeated its support for Ukraines territorial integrity with regard to Crimea, which, as the EU statement pointed out again, Moscow illegally annexed in 2014 (Kmu.gov.ua, February 12). This continued political backing from Brussels is crucial to Kyiv especially with regard to the Crimea problem, which Moscow flatly refuses to even acknowledge as a point for debate (TASS, February 12).

But on domestic matters, the EU had less pleasant words for the Ukrainian government, which largely ignored the concerns expressed at the Association Council meeting a year earlier. The January 28, 2020, joint statement urged Ukraine to respect ethnic minority rights and, in particular, to implement the recommendations of the Venice Commissionthe European constitutional law watchdogregarding language rights in education. This years statement repeated last years counsel on the Venice Commission requirements almost word for word. And notably, whereas last years joint statement mentioned almost in passing the need for Ukraine to continue strengthening the rule of law (Consilium.europa.eu, January 28, 2020)probably because Ukraine had scored an important achievement in that regard in 2019 by launching the anti-corruption courtthis time, the EU was more insistent and less complimentary regarding Ukraines endemic corruption. The year 2020 was notoriously marked by numerous controversial decisions taken by Ukrainian courts, as well as complaints by the independent anti-corruption bodies of pressure from President Volodymyr Zelenskyys team.

The joint statement this year pointed to the need for Ukraine to step up efforts on strengthening the rule of law and to ensure the independent and effective operation of the anti-corruption institutions as well as the need for credible integrity checks for judges. EU Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis told the European Parliament that comprehensive judiciary reform [in Ukraine] is long overdue. Dombrovskis noted that the fight against corruption continued to be a key condition for EU assistance to the country (Ec.europa.eu, February 9). Brussels did not conceal its frustration over Kyivs failure to implement its commitment to fight endemic corruption under both the EUs macro-financial assistance program and Ukraines program with the International Monetary Fund. The EU stressed the importance of bringing to justice those responsible for the large-scale fraud at PrivatbankUkraines largest bank, which was bailed out and nationalized in 2016again repeating a request from a year ago word for word. To date, none of the individuals allegedly involved have been prosecuted.

Ukraine achieved more on economic and trade matters, where much now depends on the European blocs readiness to open up its markets as well as the dexterity of its bureaucratic machinery. The EU and Ukraine agreed that it would be important this year to conclude the Common Aviation Area Agreement, which should facilitate travel. The EU postponed the signing of the agreement for several years, citing more pressing legal clashes over Gibraltar between the United Kingdom and Spain. But with the UK now out of the EU, there should be no more hurdles. A decisive achievement for Ukraine is the European sides agreement to start consultations to review trade liberalization for goods. Ukraine has been insisting on this for a long time, as the structure of its exports has changed considerably since 2014, when the current bilateral trade rules were agreed. In particular, Ukrainian agricultural exports have been far larger than metal exports over the last several years, and trade with the EU increased, while Russia lost its former significance as an export market for Ukraine. The EU also agreed to assess whether Ukraine is ready for an Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Goods, dubbed by Ukraine an industrial free-travel regime, potentially applicable to one-fifth of Ukraines exports to the EU (Ukrinform.ru, February 17).

In the years since the signing of the EU-Ukraine association deal, it became clear that it is easier to achieve shared policy goals when a common enemy, time constraints, regulations, commercial interests, and negotiating skills loom larger. But when cultural differences and divergent political values clash, interaction becomes more difficult. In this respect, Ukraine under Zelenskyy does not differ significantly from the Ukraine of his predecessors Petro Poroshenko or even Viktor Yanukovych. Progress in bilateral relations was faster when the Maidan revolution and Russian aggression compelled the Europeans to act. But since then, further movement toward closer integration slowed as the EU came to understand that despite all the positive changes in Ukraine, it will still take much time and effort to bridge the civilizational gap.

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Ukraine, EU Locked in Clash of Cultures and Values - Jamestown - The Jamestown Foundation

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced on Tuesday that Ukraine has lodged an application against Russia alleging breach of right to life through Russias State-authorised targeted assassinations of opponents of Russia.

Ukraine claims that these assassination operations were performed outside of armed conflict situations against perceived opponents of the Russian Federation, in Russia and other Council of Europe member states. They further allege that Russia has failed to investigate these assassinations and deliberately thwarted efforts to find the individuals responsible. These actions, Ukraine claims, amount to a violation of Article 2, the right to life, of the European Convention of Human Rights.

This is the ninth application lodged by Ukraine against Russia, with four currently pending before the EHCR. Previous applications involved the detention of Ukrainian nationals in Russia, amounting to numerous violations of Convention rights, and the crash of a Malaysian Airlines flight in Eastern Ukraine.

Following an application, the court must notify Russia and invite them to submit written observations.

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Ukraine applies to Europe rights court over alleged targeted assassinations by Russia - JURIST